BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 29 - In the first public disclosure that the United States military is tracking some of the deaths of Iraqi civilians, the military has released rough figures for Iraqis who have been killed or wounded by insurgents since Jan. 1 last year.

The estimate of dead and wounded Iraqi civilians and security forces was provided by the Pentagon in a report to Congress this month.

It appeared without fanfare in a single bar graph on Page 23 of the document. But it was significant because the military had previously avoided virtually all public discussion of the issue.

The count is incomplete - it provides daily partial averages of deaths and injuries of Iraqis at the hands of insurgents, in attacks like bombings and suicide strikes. Still, it shows that the military appears to have a far more accurate picture of the toll of the war than it has been willing to acknowledge.

"They have begun to realize that when you focus only on the U.S. it gives the impression that the U.S. doesn't care about Iraqis," said Anthony H. Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a research group in Washington. "In these kinds of political battles you need to count your allies, not just yourself."

According to the graph, Iraqi civilians and security forces were killed and wounded by insurgents at a rate of about 26 a day early in 2004, and at a rate of about 40 a day later that year. The rate increased in 2005 to about 51 a day, and by the end of August had jumped to about 63 a day. No figures were provided for the number of Iraqis killed by American-led forces.

Extrapolating the daily averages over the months from Jan. 1, 2004, to Sept. 16 this year results in a total of 25,902 Iraqi civilians and security forces killed and wounded by insurgents.

imagine if the US had such a terrorist casualty rate -- if you adjuste the numbers for imagine an America where 700 civilians or cops are murdered each day. that's one 9/11 a week. and it's getting worse.

how likely is it that a successful transition to constitutional government can be maintained in such a climate?

If we adjust the numbers of those killed and wounded then yes we do get around 680, but gladly it is not one 9-11 a week in Iraq, it is 3000 killed or wounded every year, and that doesn't correct for lulls in violence related to different events.

Originally posted by A_Wanderer If we adjust the numbers of those killed and wounded then yes we do get around 680, but gladly it is not one 9-11 a week in Iraq, it is 3000 killed or wounded every year, and that doesn't correct for lulls in violence related to different events.

It has been won as far as foreign troops possibly can against an insurgency without resorting to completely amoral methods. It cannot be "won" (as in a signed declaration of surrender by all jihadist and insurgent groups), it will end with an Iraqisation of the security situation and removal of US troops.

Originally posted by A_Wanderer It has been won as far as foreign troops possibly can against an insurgency without resorting to completely amoral methods. It cannot be "won" (as in a signed declaration of surrender by all jihadist and insurgent groups), it will end with an Iraqisation of the security situation and removal of US troops.

What US forces simply cannot defeat the insurgency outright, the very presence of US forces as moving targets a day trip away from every jihadist in the region means that as long as they are present you will have violence. A national campaign against these murderers however would be much more sucessful ~ just like Vietnamization against the Viet Cong.

Originally posted by A_Wanderer What US forces simply cannot defeat the insurgency outright, the very presence of US forces as moving targets a day trip away from every jihadist in the region means that as long as they are present you will have violence. A national campaign against these murderers however would be much more sucessful ~ just like Vietnamization against the Viet Cong.